When Should Your Child Have Their First Eye Exam?

There are some discrepancies about exactly when a child’s eyes should be screened or examined. The American Academy of Ophthalmology suggests eye screenings for newborns, again for babies between 6 months and one year, babies between one year and 3 years, and again for children between 3 years and age 5. These screenings are usually performed by your child’s pediatrician and their purpose is to look for any abnormalities. They are different from eye exams. So when should your child have their first eye exam?

What Are the Purpose of Early Screenings?

The American Optometric Association recommends that children who are 3 to 5 years old should have a in-person optometric eye exam. These screening can indicate if your child has any problems with their ocular alignment or the light reflex of their pupils.

In addition they are useful if someone in the family has an eye disease or eye problem like crossed eyes (strabismus) or lazy eyes (amblyopia). This can give the a head start at looking at a possible problem.

Eye Exams Are More Comprehensive

If any red flags are noticed by you or your pediatrician, an eye exam might be the next step. This could happen before starting school or even earlier.

Red flags could be:

• Sitting too close to the television
• Holding a book close to their eyes
• Noticing their eyes are not straight together or one is moving outward or inward
• If they don’t make eye contact
• You might notice your child does not follow a moving object with his eyes or head.

What Tests Are Performed?

The following skills will be tested:

• Visual acuity is discovering how well your child can see. During this part of the test your child will be reading letters from a chart.
• Other tests will evaluate depth perception, recognition of color, eye muscles and how they are working together, and peripheral vision.
• There will be a refraction to determine if there is any nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. A series of lenses are placed in front of each eye.
• Your doctor will let you know if your child’s eyes will be dilated.

It is important to explain to your child ahead of time that none of the tests is painful and how each will work.

The Importance of Regular Eye Exams

A child doesn’t know if they aren’t seeing properly so they can’t tell you. With regular eye exams Personal Pediatrics can determine if your child has vision difficulties and how to treat them effectively before they interfere with learning.

Whether your child may need glasses for myopia, patching for lazy eye, has issues with strabismus, or any other vision problem, we are here to help.

Contact Cobb Pediatrics at (770) 425-5331 today to schedule a pediatric eye examination for your child in Marietta, GA.